


How Ryuji (Definitely Wasn't!) Seduced By The Barista Of This One Coffee Shop

by MidnightMixer



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, M/M, Pegoryu AU Week 2018, coffee shop AU, mentions of other phantom thieves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-08-09 11:58:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16449509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightMixer/pseuds/MidnightMixer
Summary: Day 1 of Pegoryu AU Week 2018: Coffee Shop AU"Ryuji yawned as he walked through the narrow alleyways of Yongen-Jaya to his favourite coffee shop- which was absolutely not because of the cute barista (it absolutely was and Ryuji was a fucking liar)."





	How Ryuji (Definitely Wasn't!) Seduced By The Barista Of This One Coffee Shop

**Author's Note:**

> I tried to do a Superhero AU first, but I forgot the superheroes so that became my Day 4 and I wrote this instead. It's a bit OOC but whatever.

Ryuji yawned as his foot connected with the train station platform. He pushed his way out to the entrance and started his walk through the narrow alleyways of Yongen-Jaya to his favourite coffee shop- which wasn't very hard and absolutely not because of the cute barista (it absolutely was and Ryuji was a fucking liar).

It wasn't his fault though! The guy was just... so damn pretty... Ann agreed, so it was fine and stuff (so what if Ann kept giving him looks every time they were there together. Or when Ryuji went on a rant about how unfairly attractive the dude was. Or, maybe, when he, only slightly, gushed about him. Slightly. Barely an hour unprompted!)

Denial wasn't really working out well if he were being honest. He was well aware he was lying to himself. That didn't mean he'd admit it, though, no way- Ann would be far too smug, for one thing, and that was not a good look for her. Well, everything was a good look for her, but that was neither here nor there, so whatever.

He felt himself instantly relax from his self-induced tension the moment he stepped through the cafe door. The little bell rang as he entered, both employer and (cute) employee looking up. A woman with a gothic aesthetic was sat at the counter, he was sure he'd seen her here before. He tried valiantly to suppress his blush when Akira beamed at him. Did he smile like that to other customers? He must, but Ryuji had never seen him smile as much around other customers. Then again, 'other' customers were usually super old people. He was probably just projecting. Yeah, projecting. Akira was way too cute for him anyway. Out of his league and all.

"Good morning," Akira greeted with a smile, "hot chocolate as usual?" Ryuji couldn't really do anything but nod, knowing himself well enough to know that he wouldn't be able to trust his voice at that moment. Boss had a weird look on his face, sorta constipated. He did that sometimes, then gave Akira a Look™. Ryuji had no idea what the Look™ meant, but it was way too significant to not have the capital letter. He slipped into his usual booth, choosing to ignore Boss' Look™ and murmur a quick thanks., The smile he got in return made the entire day and all the discomfort worth every second. God, he was whipped. It was honestly getting embarrassing. Actually, no, it had been embarrassing since he'd walked head-on into a pole while distracted by the thought of Akira's hair and how soft it would feel against his fingers... Ann had yet to let him live it down.

The woman sat at the bar-like area said something too low for Ryuji to catch, but the barista went red in response. It almost seemed like he was deliberately not looking at Ryuji as he hissed something at her. The blush was hella cute, though. It may have been his imagination, but were his ears a little pink, too? The woman laughed, cutting off his train of thought, and the poor guy blushed harder. A thought came unbidden, they weren't flirting, were they? He tried to ignore the manifestation of a weight in his gut, focusing instead on his phone as the woman stood and left, payment on the table and little bell ringing as the door closed behind her. He barely caught the barista glaring at Boss in peripheral vision. Boss just looked amused.

There was silence for maybe a few minutes as Ryuji played idly on his phone. Then Boss started slapping his pockets, almost comically. "Oh!" he exclaimed, catching attention. Akira facepalmed, though why, Ryuji wasn't sure. "I think I left something at home. I might as well go home early, I guess. Sorry, kid, close up for me, okay?" Akira looked entirely unamused, but nodded nonetheless and told Boss to say hi to... Futaba? Or something similar anyway. Almost as if timed, Akira's phone went off at that moment. He ignored it. Probably wasn't allowed phones on the job. With a cheery wave and jaunty farewell, Boss left to the sound of the little bell jingling. Ryuji was desperate to never see the man cheerful again, that was borderline horrifying. Talk about nightmare fuel.

The pretty barista just rolled his eyes, shrugging at Ryuji's confused look. Ryuji went back to his game, and barely half a minute later, a mug of hot chocolate was set down in front of him. "Here you go."

"Thanks, man!" Ryuji flashed a smile and sipped the drink, testing the temperature and completely missing Akira's flustered expression. Ryuji then proceeded to nearly choking as Akira flopped way too gracefully on the opposite seat. "Uh, hi?" Nailed it, his voice didn't even crack. He received a warm smile in return and it was so much prettier up close holy shit. He could almost physically feel his brain shutting down. How could an actual human being have such beautiful eyes? It was breathtaking. Maybe he was secretly an angel, fallen from heaven-wait, wasn't that demons? Oh well... he never claimed to be a literary genius or anything. Oh wait, Akira was talking, shit, pay attention.

"-oring just staying behind the counter, especially when it's so empty."

"Uh, yeah, of course." Wow, smooth, Ryuji, Figuring he probably looked like some flustered fish, he turned his attention back to his drink. It was kinda weird actually since he hadn't even noticed hot chocolate on the menu the first times he was here, and he hadn't even afterwards, but the sixth time he'd come in here, forced down a disgustingly bitter cup of coffee, and a nice warm curry. Apparently, his disgust had been obvious, which wasn't quite humiliating but wasn't too far off.

"Ryuji, isn't it?" What, how did pretty boy know his name? He must have made a sound, or a face because of Akira elaborate. "We have mutual friends, I think. They've talked about you."

"We do?" And then, with substantially more horror, "They have?" Oh, there was the crack from earlier. Great. Akira just grinned, an holy hell was 'demon' right because that smirk should have been illegal.

"Good things, I promise. Well, mostly" He amended and Ryuji's horror was proven right. Apparently, he'd managed to step into hell without noticing, and while he couldn't argue the company the conversation was running headfirst into territory Ryuji was one hundred per cent not okay when Akira was present.

"Oh God," he blurted. Akira chuckled quietly, and once again Ryuji was proven as a psychic because that boy had to be an angel to produce that sound. Maybe he was biased (spoiler alert: he absolutely was), but there could not be a better sound in the world, at the very least, none that he'd heard.

"Mm," Akira hummed, "I'm friends with Makoto's girlfriend, Haru, and Makoto by extension. I think Yusuke mentioned meeting you once, too?" This was so more horrifying than he'd expected. The only good thing was that he probably didn't know Ann. That still meant, however, though, and she knew far too many of his biggest embarrassments in life to feel at all safe. He forced himself to respond, rather than act like a human vegetable.

"Uh, the artist, right? Yeah, Ann introduced us," wait, fuck, did that mean he did know Ann? He could practically see his chances fade away before his eyes. "Yusuke was weird, but-" he was also Akira's friend, you buffoon, abort, abort, for the love of God, abort right now, "-I mean! Not, like, bad weird, just, uh, I mean..." He found himself trailing off as Akira laughed. Yep, he had been horribly wrong. There was absolutely a better sound than his chuckling. It'd take a helluva lot to top this one, though. That boy was definitely not human, no way a race as shitty as humans could produce that sound, even indirectly.

"No, I know what you mean. He's a good person, but his passion for art can make him seem very... eccentric." Ryuji breathed a sigh of relief from not accidentally offending him. Ryuji sipped his hot chocolate again, closing his eyes at the taste. When Akira didn't talk again, he looked up. Akira looked distracted- nervous, almost, looking hard at the table, as if it had the meaning of the universe hidden in the grains of wood. It was strange, Ryuji was pretty certain he'd never seen Akira upset before. The closest was when he was tired (which happened far too often, did that boy get any sleep?), but never nervous. "Are... you okay? Akira?"Akira's head shot up, surprise and something else he couldn't identify sitting snugly on his face.

"I'm fine... Just..." he stopped, hesitating, nervous still. And then his expression cleared, his (beautiful, gorgeous, captivating) grey eyes glinting in determination as he set his jaw. And what a fucking jaw it was- wait, no, pay attention. "I actually wanted to ask you something."

"Okay? Well, shoot, I guess." Ryuji could feel himself growing worried now, face heating under Akira's hardened scrutiny.

"I really like you, Ryuji, " Huh? What? "D-do. Do you want to go out for a drink sometime? With me?" Ryuji could feel himself gaping like a damn fool, speechless in his shock. His face burned and he absently noticed Akira's hands clenching and unclenching, presumably from his nerves. The rest of him was just screaming as if that was at all efficient. Nevermind what he'd said earlier, this was what his brain shutting down actually felt like. He made a sound that was a cross between a baby duck's first quack after a terrible accident, and a large, floppy folder falling from a great height face down on the floor. Akira now just looked concerned, so it probably hadn't quite conveyed what he'd wanted it to. He resigned himself to speech like a plebian.

"You mean- a date?" he squeaked. Well, now he hoped Akira did know Ann, because then at least it wouldn't be any worse than at least half the stuff she would have told him.

"Well, yeah, that's the idea." Oh wow, breaking out the sarcasm, he really was nervous, huh? Ryuji was still kind of offended at how casual he sounded regardless.

"Oh. Okay. Um." Wait, had he even answered the question? "Ah! I mean, yes, yep, drink, with you, day, sometime. Date. Mmhmm." He literally could not physically stop him from groaning and burying his face in his hands. And now Akira was laughing at him. Though, on the bright side, he did get to hear his laugh again.

"Oh good," was it just Ryuji or did that sound... predatory? "then I can do this." Ryuji looked up in confusion, to see Akira with that devilish smirk plastered across his face, half-way to standing up. As Akira leaned over the table in between them, giving plenty of time to move, his internal screaming decided to amp up a couple levels, now a low buzzing in his ear. Was he actually going to...? Well, apparently so-

"Mmm..." It was gentler than he expected, honestly, especially with that look he'd had just before initiating it. His eyes fluttered closed as they rearranged themselves slightly to better fit together. A constant cacophony of 'Holy shit I'm being kissed by Akira, Akira is kissing me, oh my God' was running in the back of his head.

And then Akira moved, deepening the kiss. Someone moaned lightly, and, with no sm no small amount of mortification, he realised it was him. He felt Akira, the bastard, smirk against his lips, apparently amused at Ryuji's inexperience. Ryuji pressed closer in retaliation, but all he got was a pleased hum.

Ryuji wasn't entirely certain when the parted, or who stopped it, or literally anything about the kiss aside from how imperfectly perfect it was. He found himself breathing hard in tandem with Akira, faces close enough to taste each others' breath on every inhale. Both had completely forgotten their need to breathe at some point during their make-out session. Ryuji's breath caught in his throat as Akira beamed, leaning in and resting their foreheads together, eyes bright and full of nothing but affection and, God that was terrifying, love. Worse, he was pretty sure he was returning it in full. They shared a grin and, when they could finally breath normally again, went right back into it, Akira practically crawling over the table to get closer. Akira's phone went off again, but it was swiftly thrown over to the other seat, and a low "ignore it." was mumbled into the skin of his neck, causing his stomach to attempt a backflip. They kissed again, harder.

It was an honest miracle they made it up the stairs without breaking anything.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Akira absolutely bought the ingredients for the hot chocolate specifically- it was never on the menu and still isn't.  
> Also, Ryuji finds out not long later that there is a better sound than Akira's laugh, and also, related to that, that night was hands down the very best of his life up until that moment.


End file.
